The opioid crisis can be solved until we educate more physicians and the public about real alternatives to these addictive pills.

The opioid crisis can be solved until we educate more physicians and the public about real alternatives to these addictive pills.

Photo: Liz O. Baylen /TNS

Image 2 of 10 |
THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC

The opioid epidemic has hit nearly every corner of the United States. Here's what the Centers for Disease Control say about the crisis:

CDC: "The majority of drug overdose deaths (66%) involve an opioid. In 2016, the number of overdose deaths involving opioids (including prescription opioids and heroin) was 5 times higher than in 1999. From 2000 to 2016, more than 600,000 people died from drug overdoses. On average, 115 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose."

CDC: "The amount of prescription opioids sold to pharmacies, hospitals, and doctors’ offices nearly quadrupled from 1999 to 2010. Deaths from prescription opioids—drugs like oxycodone, hydrocodone, and methadone—have more than quadrupled since 1999."

CDC: "The amount of prescription opioids sold to pharmacies, hospitals, and doctors’ offices nearly quadrupled from 1999 to 2010. Deaths from prescription opioids—drugs like oxycodone, hydrocodone, and

CDC: "As many as 1 in 4 people who receive prescription opioids long term for noncancer pain in primary care settings struggles with addiction."

CDC: "As many as 1 in 4 people who receive prescription opioids long term for noncancer pain in primary care settings struggles with addiction."

Photo: GIPhotoStock/Getty Images/Cultura RF

Image 5 of 10

Image 6 of 10 |
THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC

CDC: "Providers wrote nearly a quarter of a billion opioid prescriptions in 2013—with wide variation across states. This is enough for every American adult to have their own bottle of pills."

CDC: "Providers wrote nearly a quarter of a billion opioid prescriptions in 2013—with wide variation across states. This is enough for every American adult to have their own bottle of pills."

Photo: Francisblack/Getty Images

Image 7 of 10 |
THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC

CDC: "Health care providers in the highest prescribing state, Alabama, wrote almost three times as many of these prescriptions per person as those in the lowest prescribing state, Hawaii. Studies suggest that regional variation in use of prescription opioids cannot be explained by the underlying health status of the population."

CDC: "Health care providers in the highest prescribing state, Alabama, wrote almost three times as many of these prescriptions per person as those in the lowest prescribing state, Hawaii. Studies suggest that

"Among those who died from prescription opioid overdose between 1999 and 2014: Overdose rates were highest among people aged 25 to 54 years; overdose rates were higher among non-Hispanic whites and American Indian or Alaskan Natives, compared to non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics; men were more likely to die from overdose, but the mortality gap between men and women is closing."

As the opioid epidemic spreads, Texas is taking important steps, from improved monitoring of prescription painkillers to expanded programs to treat addiction.

But as a doctor who regularly sees patients suffering from chronic pain, I don’t believe this crisis can be solved until we educate more physicians and the public about real alternatives to these addictive pills.

In 2016, Texas had 1,376 opioid-related overdose deaths, according to Dr. John Hellerstedt, the state’s health commissioner, who shared the data at a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services summit at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

Recommended Video:

Now Playing:

For the second year in a row the richest country in the world has posted a shocking decline in life expectancy.
It is the first time in half a century to see two consecutive annual falls in the US, mostly down to the opioid crisis . The last double rise was in 1963 when tobacco was king and there was a flu epidemic.
Fatalities jumped last year due to overdoses , many of them on prescription painkillers like OxyContin or Vicodin, now standing at 63,600 nationwide, a 21% increase on 2015.
The biggest problem is in West Virginia , a state which suffers from a decline in traditional industries like coal mining.
Donald Trump won the state with ease in the 2016 presidential election. Drug sales here have soared.
Drug wholesalers protest that they are not to blame as chemists and doctors are responsible for distribution. But critics point to the staggering amounts of opioids cleared for sale in the state. A report last year said that, ignoring rising overdose rates, over six years wholesalers pumped 780 million hydrocodone and oxycodone pills into West Virgînia, enough for 433 pills for every man, woman and child.
The out-of-state companies ensured places like Kermit, population 392, were supplied with nine million pills, all sold through one high street store. While corrupt chemists are part of the problem, they cannot sell what they do not have on the shelves.
Taking on giant pharma was a theme of Donald Trump's election campaign. He has gone quiet on it since entering the White House.

Media: Euronews

Deaths tied to prescription painkillers have started to decline in Texas, but heroin overdoses and overall opioid-related fatalities are up. About 80 percent of heroin users report using prescription painkillers. Fentanyl is entering the country illegally, along with more potent opioids.

When I entered the field 30 years ago, opioids could not be prescribed in Texas to anyone who might be a habitual user. That began to change in the early 1990s after the Legislature passed the Intractable Pain Treatment Act to provide relief to terminal cancer patients. It allowed doctors to prescribe opioids at whatever dosages they deemed necessary.

Early assumptions about the drugs — that addiction rates would be low and benefits would extend over the long term — turned out to be wrong. Opioids are very addictive, their effectiveness waning as people habituate to the medication. But the convenience of offering quick relief won over doctors, and our pill culture appeals to patients. The medical community should have known better.

A study of patients who went through the UT Southwestern pain management program found their median pain score reduced by 35 percent over a year; about half were able to stop using opioids.

This approach is not for everybody, and opioids remain an effective solution for handling acute pain caused by an injury or major chest surgery, or during hospice care. But millions need to get off the pills. About 16 million Americans take opioids chronically — five times higher per capita than some industrialized countries.

A law passed by the Texas Legislature last year requiring pharmacists to more quickly report sales of controlled substances will help physicians better track opioid history before writing a prescription. But this crisis is likely to get worse before it gets better.

If you have chronic pain and are on opioids, try a pain-management program and taper off the drugs, or at least reduce your dosage. If you’re in chronic pain and not on opioids, try nondrug alternatives first.

Dr. Carl Noe is medical director at the Eugene McDermott Center for Pain Management at UT Southwestern Medical Center. This article first appeared in the Texas Tribune.